In August, a major Sussex-based public art project will see renowned contemporary artists respond to the paintings of Eric Ravilious.

^{Vision Machines (Cliff). Charlotte Prodger, 2023}

The free trail of giant billboard-scale artworks will pop up all over Newhaven, East Sussex. Follow Ravilious – Newhaven Views celebrates paintings of the town by renowned artist Eric Ravilious. Ahead of the Turner Prize coming to Eastbourne this Autumn the project will feature some of Eric Ravilious’s best loved images of Newhaven, with responses by contemporary artists Charlotte Prodger, Mark Titchner, Emily Allchurch, and Jo Lamb. The artists’ responses have been inspired by Ravilious and the modern Newhaven landscape. The Ravilious works are all in the Towner Eastbourne Collection.

Each artist’s work will sit alongside a Ravilious painting, completing a dialogue between Newhaven’s past, present, and future and exploring Newhaven’s intersecting marine, rural, and industrial landscapes. They will link Newhaven’s dynamic past with the town as it is today, undergoing a renaissance, bursting with creativity, and attracting new residents, businesses, and investment. The trail opens on 1 August and stays up until the end of October 2023.

^{Closer to Home: November – Long Man of Wilmington. Emily Allchurch, 2021}

Each location on the trail will have two artworks, one a Ravilious painting and the other the work of one of the contemporary artists. All the paintings and locations will be revealed at the start of August. There will be a full programme of associated events running alongside the trail including a display of the four paintings in the Ravilious Library at Towner, and artistic responses to the Ravilious paintings by pupils from Newhaven’s Seahaven Academy school.

The project will, for the first time, enable some of Towner’s world class collection of Eric Ravilious’s Newhaven paintings to sit within the spaces they depict, such as the sea view from the Sussex Coast — as well responding to the industry in the area. The project is curated and organised by Towner Eastbourne, supported by the Newhaven Enterprise Zone.

Keep up to date with news about the trail and events here, or by following @creativenewhaven on Instagram and Facebook, and @createnewhaven on Twitter.